Alzheimer’s support group meetings set in Highland, Breese

Highland

The HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital (Highland) Alzheimer’s Support Group meeting for July will be held on Monday, July 20 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in the Rotary Conference Room (No. 2132) located on the second floor of the medical office building (MOB) on the new hospital campus. The meeting is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m.

Representatives from the San Gabriel new memory unit in Highland will be special guest speakers at the meeting.

Alzheimer’s Support Group attendees should park in front of and enter through the MOB entrance and take the elevator to the second floor; exiting left off the elevator and the Rotary Conference Room is located down the hallway on the left.

The HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital PrimeHealth partner sponsoring the July Alzheimer’s Support Group meeting is Highland Machine.

For more information, contact Jeannie Korte, manager of spiritual care, at 651-2980.

Breese

Suggestions for activities will be the focus of the HSHS St. Joseph-Breese Alzheimer’s Association group when its meets at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, July 23, in the Senior Renewal area of the hospital HealthPlex.

Sharon Loddeke leads the group. Loddeke is a colleague in Senior Renewal, an outpatient service for those 60 years old and over who are dealing with depression, anxiety and loss, among other issues.

“Your loved one may be able to participate in quite a few activities or you may be able to modify what they’ve enjoyed in the past to allow their participation,” Loddeke said. “We’ll share some suggestions then open the discussion up to those who may have other ideas.”

Activities for an Alzheimer’s patient could include:

▪ Listening to music or playing a familiar musical instrument;

▪ Coloring pictures or holiday decorations;

▪ Raking leaves or sweeping the patio or deck; or

▪ Folding laundry or towels.

Warning signs of Alzheimer’s can include memory changes, challenges in planning or solving problems, difficulty completing familiar tasks, confusion with time or place, trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships, new problems with speaking or writing words, misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps, decreased or poor judgment, withdrawal and changes in mood and personality.

For more information about the support group, Senior Renewal or Memory Clinic, contact 526-5699, sandy.radford@hshs.org or sharon.loddeke@hshs.org.

This story was originally published July 18, 2015 at 3:38 AM with the headline "Alzheimer’s support group meetings set in Highland, Breese."